In the aftermath of routing an Ottoman army and scattering it across the mountains of Avarestan Nader marched west arriving at the gates of Ganja on November 3 when he set upon the task of the city's encirclement.
Nader ordered a few guns be deployed on the roof of a mosque but the artillery battery was put out of action by the Ottoman cannon before it could even begin its bombardment of the battlements of the citadel.
Failing in their siege artillery capacity the Persian sent sappers to dig underground to reach the citadel's walls from beneath but the Turks received timely intelligence reports revealing the intention of the besiegers.
Nader partook in these efforts from a dangerously close range, once having the brains and blood of one of his bodyguards splatter across his face as a cannonball fired from a Turkish gun decapitated him in the most grotesque manner.
Nader who at this point was all too eager to leave the slow-going siege and take to the field where he would be in his element once more, welcomed this opportunity to seek out the Ottoman relief force and crush it.